Increase in use of sophisticated car stereoes in recent years has caused increase in the theft of the stereoes. In order to prevent the theft of the stereoes, there has been proposed measures for the stereoes. In accordance with one of the measures, a grille having a plurality of push buttons for the stereo is provided to be separated from the body of the stereo, and is detachably attached to the front portion of the stereo.
FIGS. 8 to 10 show the above described prior art. The car stereo comprises a car stereo body 1 and a detachable grille 3 attached to the body 1. The body 1 has recessed panel 5 mounted at the front thereof. The grille 3 has various push buttons 2.
Referring to FIG. 9, in order to attach the grille 3 on the body 1, a groove 4 formed in one side of the grille 3 is engaged with a projection 6 projecting into the recess of the panel 5 from an inner edge thereof, thereby positioning the grille 3. The grille 3 is then pivoted about the projection 6 so as to close in on the panel 5, so that a hook 7a formed on an end of an engaging member 7 of a push-push mechanism (not shown) provided in the body 1 engages with a recess 8 formed at the inner corner of the other end of the grille 3. The engaging member 7 is retracted as the grille 3 is pivoted. Thus the grille 3 fits in the recess of the panel 5, where the member 7 is locked by the push-push mechanism. If the grille 3 is forcibly depressed, the lock mechanism is released, so that the grille can be removed from the body.
In order to detach the grille 3 from the panel 5, the grille 3 at the side having the inner recess 8 is depressed. The push-push mechanism in accordingly operated to project the engaging member 7 as shown in FIG. 10. The grille 3 is pivoted about the projection 6 and pulled off the panel 5 of the body 1.
When the grille 3 is taken out, the stereo body loses the appearance of a car stereo. Hence, if the grille 3 is removed when the driver leaves vehicle, the theft of the car stereo is prevented.
However, in order to attach the grille 3 to the car stereo body 1, two manual operations must be carried out. Namely the groove 4 of the grille 3 is engaged with the projection 6 formed on the panel 5 and then the grille 3 must be forcibly depressed into the recess of the panel 5. Furthermore, when detaching the grille 3, the engaging member 7 of the push-push mechanism projects out from the body 1 by a predetermined length, so that a pivoting angle of the grille 3 is determined by the length and cannot be changed.